Opioids in Cancer Pain

Karen Forbes

Opioids in Cancer Pain outlines the opioids available for the management of cancer pain, examining the evidence for their use, discussing how they are best used and outlining the side effects. Opioids are a popular choice but many clinicians need guidance and advice in special situations and this pocketbook is the ideal guide.

Opioids in Cancer Pain

First Edition

Karen Forbes

Description

The World Health Organization published Cancer Pain Relief in 1990, advocating simplicity in the choice of analgesic and of route of administration. Since that time an increasing number of opioids for moderate to severe pain in an increasing number of formulations have become available, making professionals' choices about cancer pain management more complex.

Part of the Oxford Pain Management Library, this book compares and reviews the current opioids for moderate to severe pain and considers their place in the management of cancer pain, using morphine as the accepted 'gold standard' worldwide. The first sections of the book deal with teh principles of pain management in cancer pain and the range of treatments available for pain due to cancer. Chapters on opioid pharmacology, starting and titrating opioids and managing their adverse effects are followed by discussion about talking to the patient commencing opioids for moderate to severe pain.

Sections also include current evidence around opioid perscribing in patients with liver and renal impairment, respiratory disease or a history of substance misuse. This book presents current evidence in a clinically-based, practical and applicable way, so that the book is useful for all healthcare professionals caring for patients with pain due to cancer.

Opioids in Cancer Pain

Karen Forbes

Reviews and Awards

"...a pleasure to read as well as being brief, authoritative and highly informative. This is a small, genuinely pocket-sized book, but it packs a big punch and reflects accurately the major advances that have been made during the last 20 - 30 years in the understanding of the pathophysiology and management of pain due to cancer...[contains] a chapter on opioid receptors that is a minimalist tour de force."--British Journal of Anaesthesia